BANGALORE
Sept. 30.
Insat-3E, launched on Sunday, is now in continuous radio visibility from the Master Control Facility (MCF) in Hassan district of Karnataka.

According to an ISRO press release, the MCF acquired continuous visibility following a further orbit raising manoeuvre at 2.38 a.m., IST, on Tuesday when the satellite's nearest position to Earth was taken to 33,000 km. by firing its onboard thrusters. It now completed one trip round its orbit in 22 hours 40 minutes.

The satellite now has only a small tilt of about 0.14 degrees with respect to the Earth's equator. One more firing of the onboard thrusters was planned for the next few days to take the satellite to its final geostationary circular orbit at a distance of about 36,000 km. from Earth. It would then move in its orbit at the same speed at which Earth rotates, thereby staying stationary with respect to the Earth. The satellite was launched onboard a European Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guyana.